


Visitors

by soongtypeprincess



Series: The Family Soong [3]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Drama, Family Feels, Multi, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-09
Updated: 2014-09-09
Packaged: 2018-02-16 17:48:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2278989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soongtypeprincess/pseuds/soongtypeprincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Soong Brothers come together for their 23rd birthday, but it is short-lived.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Visitors

**Author's Note:**

> I rather enjoy writing AU Soong brothers.
> 
> 4/2015: Edited.
> 
> I DON'T OWN THE CHARACTERS UPON WHICH MINE ARE BASED!

Danny strode into the main lobby of Willowbend Personal Care Home, a neatly wrapped box under his arm. He looked around briefly at the people at the television and at the different tables. One table was playing Gin Rummy, one was playing Mahjong, and the other had two elderly women poring over pieces of a puzzle that would soon make a picture of a lighthouse.

Danny walked to the front desk where a young girl with blonde hair sat writing in a patient’s chart. He watched her tightly tied ponytail bounce along with her note-taking, and then he gently knocked on the counter.

Bright blue eyes soon met his and the girl smiled sweetly at him. “Hello, Danny. Happy birthday,” she told him.

“Thank you, Tasha,” he replied, as he signed the guestbook. “Is Billy in his room?”

Tasha sighed and nodded as she stood up, adjusting her yellow scrub top. “Yep, he is, but, he had a bad morning, I'm afraid.”

Danny leaned forward, concerned. “What happened?” 

She put away the chart and motioned for him to follow her down the hallway. Danny walked beside her at a slow pace.

“Billy’s favorite blue lap quilt got mixed up in his bed sheets last night, we think,” she explained. “When he got the blanket back this morning, the blue fabric was speckled with bleach spots.”

“Oh, dear,” Danny said.

“He was in hysterics and now he won’t come out of his room. I told him that his brothers were coming to see him, and you were going to have birthday cake, but…he wouldn’t hear it.”

“I can understand why he is distraught,” Danny told her. “Mother made him that blanket when he was four years old. He has slept with it ever since.”

Tasha turned to Danny as they stopped in front of Billy’s door. “I am so sorry, Danny. We can pay for any damages.”

Danny grinned. “Do not worry, Tasha. He will be all right. Thank you for telling me.”

Tasha gave his arm a tender rub before walking away to leave him standing at the door. When she had gone, Danny quietly knocked. “Happy birthday, Billy,” he called softly against the wood.

“I'm not happy!” came Billy’s loud moaning.

Danny said with a smile, “It's Danny, brother. I have a present for you.”

There was a moment of silence before the door swung open suddenly and Billy stood in front of him.

His dark hair was disheveled and his eyes were puffy from his morning tears. He tugged at his white polo shirt as he wrapped one arm around his brother. “Danny...” he whispered into his brother’s chest, his voice cracking.

Danny squeezed him lovingly in a tight embrace. “Oh, dear, brother,” he whispered soothingly. “I am sorry about your blanket.”

“It's ruined!” Billy cried as he let go of his brother and shuffled back into his room.

Danny followed behind him and shut the door. “It is all right, Billy. It is still your blanket. It just has different colors now. Mother would not mind.”

Billy turned back to him, wiping his face. “Yeah?”

Danny nodded. “Positive.”

Billy approached him again and gently patted Danny's cheek. He then walked away from him and sat on his bed. 

Danny noticed a small vase of daisies sitting on his dresser by the window. “What a beautiful bouquet, Billy.”

Billy carefully folded his blanket over the foot of the bed. “Mom sent those to me. She’s getting sick.”

Danny looked at him, surprised. “Mother is ill? From what, Billy?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. She didn't feel good. She told me so I guess she getting sick. But she's going to come and see me soon.”

Danny’s heart began to pound, and he put his hand on his chest as he turned away, counting under his breath. “One…two…three…”

Billy noticed his brother and quickly walked over to him and patted his back. "Danny, don't do that," he said gently. "I didn't mean to scare you." He went over to his bed and picked up his blanket. "Hey, Danny. Look...see what they did? But you said it's okay. Danny?"

Danny gulped a giant helping of air and turned to face his brother. “You are right, Billy." He inhaled deeply again and handed the wrapped parcel to him. "Would you like to open your present now?”

Billy smiled excitedly and threw his blanket to the floor. “Yes, please!”

He took the present and quickly tore into the paper and marveled at the box. “Wow! A zeppelin! I don’t have one of these!” He threw his arms around his brother and squeezed him even tighter than before, saying, “Thank you, Danny! It’s our birthday!”

Danny gave a small chuckle. “Happy birthday, Billy.”

“Three minutes apart, we are. All of us. Dad timed it, didn't he? Hey! Where's Laurence? He was supposed to be here; he's late!”

“He will be here shortly,” Danny replied, although he only half-believed his own words. Laurence was usually present every year on their birthday, as they had promised each other that they would all be together to celebrate. 

He noticed Billy trying to open the box his new model zeppelin was in, and Danny walked over to him and carefully took it from him and placed it on his nightstand. “How about we wait until Laurence arrives?”

As if on cue, a frantic knock sounded on the door. Danny opened it to see Tasha looking agitated. “Your brother is here, and he is really pissing me off.”

"I shall return, Billy," Danny said as he stepped into the hallway and trotted after Tasha to find Laurence leaning against the front desk yelling in a nurse’s face.

“Do you know who I am?!” he shouted as the nurse tried to retain her stance behind a tense glare.

“Yes, we do!” Tasha stepped up to him. “But you are still a visitor here, and ALL visitors sign in!”

“I’m a fucking Soong,” Laurence growled at her, his speech faintly slurring. “We pay you guys to keep my brother here; you wouldn’t have a fucking facility if my brother wasn’t here!”

“Laurence,” Tasha replied firmly. “We go through this every year. You have to sign—“

“Tasha,” Danny interrupted her. He stepped up to his brother and whispered to him, “Have you been drinking?” 

Laurence snickered at him. “What? Danny…come on…” Danny glared at him until he relented. “I may have had…a couple of birthday shots before coming here.”

“Danny,” came Tasha’s voice. “He’s going to have to leave if he keeps doing this.”

“Sign in, Brother,” Danny told him.

Laurence sneered and sniffed as he picked up the pen and quickly scribbled a very illegible signature. He threw the pen down dramatically and made his way to follow Danny to their brother’s room.

He stopped and looked at Tasha. “You’re very cute when you’re angry, darlin’,” he leered at her. He grabbed Danny by the elbow and pulled him close. “Hey, man, have you gotten a piece of that yet or what?”

Danny’s eyes grew wide and Tasha’s mouth dropped as she huffed and pivoted on her heel to return to her desk.

Laurence smiled and rolled his eyes as he proceeded down the hallway, and Danny looked back at Tasha apologetically. 

After they rounded the corner, Danny grabbed his brother’s arm and spun him to face him. “Why must you act in such a questionable way, Laurence?” he demanded.

Laurence raised an amused eyebrow. “’Questionable?’ Danny, you’re more like Dad every day.”

“I am serious, Brother,” Danny said, stepping closer. “You have no reason to act this way, particularly to Tasha.”

“Oh, I see,” Laurence smiled, slyly. “You do have the hots for the nurse!”

“Keep your voice down. I do not. I respect her because she takes care of our brother while we cannot.”

“Because Dad could care less about either us, Mom’s too old, I could give a shit about it—“

“You do not mean that!”

“And you’re too busy with school, right? You need to live a little, Brother!” He then grinned as he stepped closer, leering once more. “I’ll bet that little nurse out front would be much obliged to get your dick wet.”

His breath was soon knocked out of him as he felt Danny’s strong palm on his chest as it forcefully pushed him against the wall. He looked at his brother with wide, glazed eyes as they were now nose-to-nose to each other.

“Today is our birthday,” Danny whispered through gritted teeth. “Billy has not had a good day so far, and he does not need you to ruin it further. Do you understand?”

“Danny…come on,” Laurence muttered, trying to push against his brother’s hand.

“If you do anything to upset Billy, you will answer to me.”

Laurence’s stern features soon relaxed and he nodded. “Okay…I understand.” Danny’s hand pushed against his brother’s chest harder and Laurence raised his hands for mercy. “Danny! I get it! I’m sorry!” 

Danny let his hand drop to his side and stared at his brother as he rubbed the spot between his pectorals. “Jesus, man,” he chuckled as he looked at his brother. “When did you grow balls?”

Laurence stopped laughing as he looked at Danny, whose eyes were turning red. “Hey, man. Are you okay? Look, don’t get upset.”

“Have you spoken to mother?” Danny asked suddenly.

Laurence shrugged and shook his head. “A few weeks ago. Why?”

Danny looked down at his brother’s scuffed leather boots. “Billy said she is sick.”

“Sick?” Laurence asked. “But, how does he…? No, he’s wrong. She’s fine, Danny. She’s fine, really. She has to be. You know how he exaggerates.” 

He looked away to hide his own concern until the sound of his brother’s deep breathing caused him to stir. “Oh, God, Danny. Don’t do this!”

Danny leaned against the wall trying to even his hitched breathing as he clutched his hand over his chest while his other hand reached into his pants pocket. He pulled out his inhaler but before he was able to put it to his lips, Laurence stomped over to him, grabbed it, and threw it down the hallway.

Danny looked at him with frightened eyes as Laurence placed his hands on his face. “God dammit, Danny! You don’t need that thing! You don’t have fucking asthma!”

“Can’t…breathe…”

“Yes, you can, dammit!” Laurence snarled. “You just have to stop panicking at the drop of a hat. Mom’s fine! Calm down!” He watched as Danny shut his eyes tight as his breath wheezed and he could feel his brother’s pulse racing. “Please…calm down. Do you still count? Let’s count.”

“Inhaler…brother, please…” Danny begged.

“You don’t need it!!” Laurence choked as his eyes became wet. However, he bit his lip as he watched his brother gasp for air, and he quickly let go of him to run down the hallway toward the inhaler. When he returned, he found Danny sitting on the floor and he knelt beside him and placed the inhaler to his lips.

“Here, Danny,” he whispered. “Here it is…easy, now.”

Danny managed to inject a few pumps of air into his lungs and his breathing slowed as tears escaped his eyes. He looked up at Laurence who was wiping away tears of his own.

Danny gulped and managed to whisper, “Laurence?”

“Yes?” he sniffed.

“You are an asshole.”

Laurence laughed and nodded as he patted Danny’s shoulder.

“But you are still my brother,” Danny continued.

Laurence smirked. “I try, Danny,” he said. “But I just…I don’t know. I can’t deal with all of this sometimes.”

“It was not your fault,” Danny said between breaths.

“What?”

“The accident. It was not your fault.”

Laurence’s eyes began to burn as he looked at his brother’s loving expression, and it was too much for him.

“I have to go,” he said in a hollow tone.

“Laurence…wait…” Danny begged.

“I can’t be here right now, Dan,” he resumed. “I’ll call you next week.” With that, Danny watched Laurence stand up and hurried down the hallway, passing a confused Tasha before heading out of the main entrance of the facility.

Tasha watched him leave and then turned to see Danny still on the floor. “Danny!” She ran over to him and knelt beside him to find his breathing ragged. “Are you okay? Do you need oxygen?”

Danny just looked away toward Billy’s room. He saw that their oldest brother's face was sullen once again as he leaned against his door and twitched his fingers.

Tasha looked down to see Danny's inhaler still gripped in his hand and she put her arms around his neck and pulled him close.

She let Danny rest his cheek against her smock as more tears streamed down his face.


End file.
